Is is possible for parents of adult children with learning difficulties to purchase property and enter into a landlord/tenant agreement when the only way the rent can be met is via housing benefit?
I am aware that it is possible for parents to stand as guarantor in mortgage arrangements for adult children with LD and for these costs to be met via Income Support - would this support the route via rent/dependence on housing benefit via the rental option and avoid being deemed to be contrived?
Would the fact that the parent is the appointee cause any problems?

do you mean, parents purchase property and rent out to their disabled child?

if so, the rules are against your....

Hmmm.... Anyway, here goes.

If the parents are to live in the same premises, HB is definitely not payable - HBR 9(1)(b).

If the parents are living elsewhere, and if the arrangements are genuine and above board, HB is potentially payable. But, the Council will almost certainly give consideration to any of the following options:

1) is there a genuine liability?

2) if so, is the tenancy (or other agreement) on a commercial basis?

or,

3) has the liability been created to take advantage (unfairly or improperly) of the HB scheme.


For 2 & 3, there is no definitive answer. It will depend on the facts of the case as a whole. Councils tend to be immediately suspicious where there is a family connection between the tenant and the L/L. It really depends on the TRUE purpose as to why & how the arrangement(s) came about. The fact that the parents will also be appointees won't necessarily be a bar, but of course it is immediately obvious that the parents are entirely responsible for the arrangements. So, the Council will (probably) question their motivation.

There isn't much point in citing caselaw and CDs. For every one put forward on one side of the argument(s), there is another that can be argued the other way. My advice is to carefully read all of the analysis and commentary to HBRs 8 & 9 in the CPAG. That should give a broad idea.

One other thing; is it intended that these arrangements will have the effect of bringing the claim within the "exempt accommodation" (i.e. supported living) HB rules? If so, be prepared for the LA to investigate every conceivable aspect of ALL of the arrangements. (In the interests of transparency, I have assisted LAs with regard to "exempt accommodation" cases and continue to do so in varying degrees).

Hope this helps.

I don't depart from anything Kevi has said but merely add this.

Yes, as long as the landlord does not live in the dwelling, it is possible, although this area can be fraught with difficulty. The arrangements will have to be watertight. For example, you will need a proper written tenancy agreement with legally enforceable terms and no non-legally enforceable terms. There should be no improper motives lurking behind the arrangements and there needs to be good and transparent reasons for the arrangements. The rent charged should be reasonable but it is entirely legitimate for the rent to be set at a level, which covers the mortgage.

Dependence on HB by itself does not shut out the arrangement although it may be a factor. In R v Solihull ex p Simpson 1995 Sedley J stated “(t)o use this fact to deny an applicant benefit is to undermine the whole purpose of the Scheme by making the claimant’s need count against him instead of for him”.

Finally, the concept of taking advantage of the HB scheme is not the same as availing oneself of benefit. It must connote some element of bad faith.